Welcoming Midnight
by iHope17
Summary: A sophmore girl is taken captive by a boy that she meets at prom. He takes her to his house where he learns that he has a choice to make, either kill her or make her like him a vampire but with each passing day he's falling more and more in love with her
1. bob

**bob**

* * *

Lights flashing, music pounding, monstrous herds of people passing, all their heads turn to stare at what's taking place in the very center of the dance floor. Me. I could see everything, could hear everything, I could almost taste everyone's shock and amazement as I was struck across the face by my own boyfriend Ryan Hobbs, the most seemingly perfect Senior Jock you could ever meet. I'm frozen, I don't know what to do, should I run? Should I scream? Should I strike back? Never once had I ever expected this sort of thing to happen, least of all to me.


	2. Chapter One: Living A Nightmare

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Sitting alone on the rickety gym bleachers at prom wouldn't be so bad if people would just stop staring, some whispering discretely, some gossiping loudly. The worst part was there was nothing I could really do except sigh, wrap my arms around myself, and slump down against the icy cement wall. I didn't belong here, not even close. I'm just a sophomore and this was the senior prom. My boyfriend, Ryan, was the only senior who had gotten permission to bring a younger date, compliments of being the football team's star quarterback no doubt.

I was about to pull myself up off the 40 year old wood and skulk home to continue being miserable when I lifted my head and saw Ryan in the center of a grind line with a dark purple silk dress in front of him with her mouth cemented to his harsh lips. I guess that made it official. We were over.

My legs became solid, like a slab of marble. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were hiding in my intestines. I slid my eyelids shut and started lightly tapping the back of my numbed brain against the stony wall of this institution. Stupid, stupid… flowed through my mind, rhythmically with the steady thumping of my head against the wall, to replace the images dieing to taunt my thoughts. Not ten feet away people danced and laughed as the music droned on without any meaning while I sat her bleeding from the inside out. I felt a solitary, bitter tear tumble down my cheek.

I stayed like this for how long 30, 40 minutes? It didn't matter, I wasn't sure what to feel anymore. I was about to slip back into my internal revolving door of stupid, stupid…when there was a voice,

"Hello?" It was a very pleasant voice, which truly sent me for a loop, if I had anticipated anyone saying anything to me I would have expected a snide remark about the break-up, or a "you should leave, you don't belong here", as if I didn't know that already. However, when my curtain of eyelashes, heavy with mascara, parted, there was an extremely attractive boy looking down over me, it was half painful to look at him. I must have looked like an utter fool gaping up at him, my eyes wide in shock, and my mouth was probably dangling open. Regardless of my vegetable like stupor, he smiled at me politely, offered me his hand, and asked, "May I have this dance?" My heart nearly stopped, and when it lurched backed to life I could feel every drop of blood in my body flood my cheeks. The fact that I was already wearing blush probably didn't help with the color. The music slowly slipped past my mental block, it was slow and sweet. On My Own, The Used.

I was beyond words, I couldn't find the right words to such a formal invitation, the sound just refused to come out, so I just nodded.

Sliding my hand into his I noticed that they were ice cold, but tender. He led me out onto the dance floor where he spun me around and gently placed his other hand on the small of my back and pulled me close to him. My breathe caught, I hadn't been expecting that. I looked up at my dance partner, he was certainly a very peculiar boy, try as I might, I couldn't begin to imagine what would make someone this gorgeous want to dance with me. Not when he easily could have picked up any one of the more beautiful girls here. I mean, I know I looked better than my usual long sleeve over cami with jeans ensembles, but there was no way I could possibly look this good. This boy was beyond supermodel perfect, he'd have any billion dollar, front page superstar foaming at the mouth in fits of jealousy, easily. Any one of his dazzling features could, single handedly, land him front and center on the cover of every magazine known to man. My eyes eventually wandered into his. Each one a vast pool of inviting, warm amber with a hint of brilliant emerald around the outer edges, they were so beautiful. As I stared I could feel myself melting into putty in his hands, in an attempt to distract myself I started looking around at the rest of the prom's twirling population. We were the only ones really dancing, all of the other couples only had their arms wrapped around each other while they shuffled their feet or rocked their weight back and forth between their hips.

Everyone's head was turned towards me and the mysterious boy I was dancing with. While I was dating Ryan I grew used to people always staring, and gossiping as if I weren't there, but this was different. Everyone was glaring at us, each spinning head colored with disapproval, and disgust. God forbid they should look at Ryan like that, both of his hands down the skirt of a bright orange backless dress. Across the gym I spotted the dark purple silk who was sucking on his Adam's apple earlier. She was the only one glowering at someone other than me, but Ryan wasn't the one she was focused on. Purple silk was staring down orange backless with all the hate that she should be feeling towards Ryan. Why do people have to be so stupid!?

"I agree." His voice plucked me out of my dark reverie. What was he agreeing with? I hadn't said anything.

"Excuse me?" I asked him politely. He smiled at me, but his eyes darted around the gym, lost, until they fell onto Ryan on the other side of the gym and said, "He is hot, and popular, if I were you I'd much rather be dancing with him too." With this his arms loosened and I began to slip farther and farther away from him.

"No!" I nearly shouted, my voice rising several octaves, and pulling myself back into his arms, "He's a total jerk!"

He looked at me incredulously, like he couldn't believe the words that had just come from my mouth. Within moments, though, his features had rearranged themselves into amusement. He cocked his head to one side and asked "Really?" In a tone that easily could have been mistaken for mild sarcasm.

"We kinda broke-up just before you had come and asked me to dance, actually." I admitted, sheepishly. For a moment he almost looked surprised, and then sympathetic, "That was you?", the look on my face must have answered his question because then he added, "No wonder you were crying." My left hand flew from his shoulder to my face, it was damp, I hadn't realized I was crying that hard. He cupped my face in his hand, and wiped aside the blotchy wet spot on my cheek. After drying his hand on his pants leg he snatched my hand from my face and placed it back on his shoulder where he gingerly laced his fingers into mine. I stared at him in total awe, no one's ever been so nice to me before. I thought to myself. This song seemed to be lasting forever, but I didn't care. I knew it would be over all too soon. Why was forever never long enough.

"What's your name?" I asked him. He obviously hadn't expected me to ask him that because he hesitated before opening his mouth to answer me. In that short moment of hesitation the song ended. He dropped his arms immediately, as if he were just going to walk away and disappear. My shoulders sagged a little, I began forcing my brain to etch his face into memory, knowing this would be the last chance I would have to do so.

"Did you come from another school to crash the prom or something?" I asked. He looked confused, "What. Why do you ask that?"

"It's just that I've never seen you at school before now, and I'm sure that I would have remembered seeing you if I ever had." He smiled at me, cautiously, as if he were unsure of something and was trying to hide it.

"Would you accompany me for a walk, please?" he asked me, motioning towards the gym doors with his hand.

"Sure" I replied. He took my hand and led me through the crowd towards the back doors. On our way out I noticed purple silk making a b-line towards orange backless who was out on the dance floor with Ryan putting on a display that would have made any mother's teeth curl. I just rolled my eyes and kept walking, he followed my gaze and chuckled.


	3. Chapter Two: Walking Amongst Dreams

**Chapter 2:**

* * *

We slipped out the back door of the gym and into the back hallway of Freshman Campus as silently as if we were a pair of shadows. Well we would have, if it weren't for my ridiculously high heels which clicked and clacked on the linoleum tiles rather loudly, and then reverberated back to us a couple hundred times off the empty, unlit walls and ceilings of the Cafeteria.

It was really dark, only a slight glow of moonlight reflecting off the polished floor. As such I was unable to see the uneven tile sticking up about a quarter of an inch higher than the rest. My heel caught in the crevice which sent me stumbling to the floor, luckily _he_ was there to catch me before my face made contact with the gleaming surface.

"You alright?" He asked after righting me back onto my feet.

"Yes, thank you." I replied, grateful that he was there.

"You're most welcome, shall we continue?"

"Sure, just a sec." I tell him bending down to unhook the clasp on these deathtraps. I pull them off and run my hands soothingly over the raw spots on the tops of my feet where the burgundy velvet lining rubbed through the first layer of skin. Straitening up I grab them by the ankle straps and dangle them from my fingers to show him the hold up.

"Ryan's idea, so he wouldn't have to bend down so far to kiss me." I say, rolling my eyes at the thought of Ryan. He chuckled, but then fell silent.

"It couldn't be that bad…" He says leaning forward, closing the distance between us. I go stiff, could this really be happening? He freezes millimeters from my eager lips. His eyes still closed, like he wants to travel the distance between us and kiss me, but trying to fight the urge at the same time.

"Edward." He whispered to me instead of moving forwards or back.

My eyes fluttered open, he was staring at me. Since I didn't move or say anything he added, "I'm Edward." I was lost, it was so lame but, "Oh." was all I could manage as a response. He straightened up then and I noticed the way he towered over me without my heels. The difference was incredible I was a cozy little cottage out in the countryside, he was the Empire State Building. I started to feel slightly dizzy, like the moonlight was going to jump off the floor and swallow me whole, then I realized that it was because I had forgotten to breathe. My sudden intake of oxygen not only felt amazing to my rapidly shriveling lungs but also caught Edward's attention, did he miss nothing?

"Are you alright?" He asked, with borderline alarm flavoring his tone.

"Hmm? Oh. Yea, I'm fine, just lost in thought." He nodded.

We made our way through the twisting, turning hallways lined from floor to ceiling with lockers on both sides, save the spaces where there was a doorway into empty classrooms.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, breaking the silence. I nearly panicked, it would sound creepy if I told him that he was what I was thinking about, so I decided to be a smart ass.

"Global warming, the economy nose diving, politics becoming a group of corrupt, crusty old people. You know, the usual." He looked at me, flabbergasted. His eyebrows nearly meeting his hairline and his mouth beginning to slouch open ever so slightly.

"Please tell me you're just joking." I was a little disappointed, I was almost convinced I would get a laugh from that, if not just a light chuckle.

"Bad joke?" I asked. He shrugged, relaxing the muscles in his face.

"I've heard worse he muttered." We didn't talk again for almost two more hallways. So I sighed and asked, "Where are we going." Edward turned towards me then, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, "Oh, yes! I forgot all about that." He stopped walking and took hold of my wrist, "We're going the wrong way." He said tugging softly on my wrist and motioning with a slight bob of his head.

"The wrong way for what?" I inquired. Winking at me, he said teasingly, "You'll see." I gave him a questioning look.

"I'll show you," he said giving me a large, full faced grin, showing off a full set of perfectly straight, gleaming white teeth. It made me feel under prepared, I should've brought some sunglasses. I stifled a giggle, imagining myself getting sunburned from the glare emanating from his teeth.

"Shall we?" Edward asked, releasing my wrist and offering me his arm. Mockingly, I curtsied and said, "We shall," as I threaded my arm through his own. We walked, in silence mostly, back through a majority of the winding hallways that we had just come through, finally I had to ask,

"What was the point of walking through all these hallways just to come back?" He turned his head to look behind us for a brief moment, and replied, "There wasn't one, you just distracted me, I forgot where I had been planning on taking you." His answer didn't really shock me, but it was somewhat unsettling, "Which is….?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Right here." Edward said, sweeping me through a set of double doors, with tinted glass windows, I had never seen before.

It was a garden! Hidden from everyday view by the rest of the building, I had always wondered why there was a deep dip in the building structure, now I knew. The only opening was brushed up against the thick forest that has always been beside the school ever since it had been originally built, back in the early 70's. There were flowers everywhere, in all different shapes, sizes, and various colors, the smell was positively straight from heaven. Maybe Edward had brought it with him during his own decent, the flowers must have bloomed where his feet first touched the planet earth's surface, forever leaving a reminder of the day he came. I inclined my head and closed my eyes to take in the scent of Edward's secret garden. When I opened my eyes I was face to face with the full moon, beating down from directly over head. This was the most perfect place, truly a little slice of paradise, and I was the one Edward had chosen to share this place with. This thought forced all of the blood back to my cheeks.

"You're blushing?" He observed, as always, missing nothing. Looking at him, as usual, nearly made my heart stop permanently. As beautiful as he was under the psychedelic strobing lights, he was easily quadruple that under the sweet glow of the moonlight, his skin looked soft enough that it would melt if I touched it. He smiled, surely the moment I had laid eyes on him I had died and was now in heaven, there is no way that this was actually happening for real. My heart was about to explode, I had to stop looking at him, so I dropped my eyes and focused on his flawlessly pressed tuxedo instead of the perfection of his face. It was closer to a dressy suit than an actual tux, which was more than most of the other boys at the dance were wearing. It was a deep black, with a metallic on matte silk burgundy striped tie with slivers of silver inlaid on the matte stripes. It were almost as if he had dressed to match me, I looked down at myself. My dress was relatively simple, a shimmering silver fabric that hugged the length of my body all the way to the floor, the back was two crisscrossed straps but was otherwise non-existent. My shoes, which were now laid carelessly on the ground, a metallic silver with velvet burgundy lining. My necklace was a burgundy fabric lace choker with matching beads dangling from the bottom trim and my earrings, nails, and bracelet all matched.

The moon came rolling back out the other side of a cloud and something shiny caught my eye, I looked in the direction of the small gleam of color-the odd apparel coincidence forgotten-and started giggling.

"What's so funny?" He asked me, confused.

"You're sparkling!" I said, releasing another burst of uncontrollable giggles. His eyebrows scrunched together, and he looked up to the moon. I couldn't tell if his face was concerned or confused, maybe a mix of the two, but why? I placed my hand on his shoulder and waved a finger towards my dress.

"My glitter must have rubbed off on you, I just thought it was funny."

"Oh", he said, his face immediately relaxed, but he continued to stare at the moon's pale surface. A mysterious tension lingering in the atmosphere. In a feeble attempt to break the ice I asked, "So, now that you've got me here, what do you plan on doing with me?" He pulled his eyes from the moon then, "Oh! I almost forgot." He exclaimed. He rubbed the back of his fingers across my cheek and said, "You really must stop distracting me."

"Shame on me," I said lightly smacking the back of my hand. He laughed at that.

"Wait here." He instructed me, leaping into the darkened tree line. Willingly I obeyed.

For the first time since Edward had brought me here I heard the familiar sound of trickling water, I turned to see a magnificent stone fountain in the center of Edward's secret garden. I was in awe, how is this possible? I knew the answer to that, it wasn't.

He came bounding out of the same spot he went in, grasped in his hand were some jeans and a dark steely gray t-shirt that was deeply V'ed down the front.

"I'll wait here while you go change, I'd hate for your dress to get ruined." He said handing over the neatly folded garments and pointing back to the double doors with the tinted windows. I had completely forgotten that we were still at the school. I looked at the clothes he had handed me, the shirt was too broad across the shoulders and the pants were sure to slide off. When I didn't move he said, "They're mine." His lip curled up in one corner. My heart stopped for a full four seconds, but this time I couldn't feel it recovering, it was so gradual, it was almost as if it weren't happening at all. Not that I would be at all surprised if the look he gave me had given me heart failure.

I trudged back into the school, taking a final glance at him standing there, waiting on me, afraid that a rogue bolt of lightning would come crashing down from the sky and he would disappear. It didn't, so I reluctantly let go of the cool metallic frame of the door and let it swing closed, barring me from both Edward and his garden.

Once I had locked myself into the safety of the bathroom stall I buried my nose into the breast of his shirt and inhaled deeply, until my nose burned from the sweetness of his smell. After changing I felt obligated to do a small happy dance, to celebrate the pleasant circumstances that had befallen me, where Edward could not see. This resulted in me tripping on the seven or eight extra inches of worn denim and ramming into the wall. After rubbing my sore shoulder, which had been the point of impact, and hauling myself back up onto my feetI balled up my dress until it resembled a small disco-ball and headed back outside. It took what felt like a ridiculously long time because I had to stop periodically to re-roll the hems of Edward's jeans. I had to fight the urge to burst into a sprint with each step, eager to see Edward again. But when the door swung shut with a sharp clang, Edward was gone.


	4. Chapter Three: Reality

**Chapter 3:**

* * *

My ridiculously large smile died along with my racing heartbeat which sputtered to a screeching halt. I plopped down onto the rough cement and dropped my head, _I knew it! I just knew this was too good to be true. I knew he was far too good to be real._ I thought to myself. I pulled my knees up around my chin and wrapped my arms securely around them, tucking my head into the small hole between my chest and my legs.

"Are you alright?" _His_ frigid hand was on my shoulder, _his _alarmed voice echoed through my cranium. I flinched when I looked up to see him inches away from me, I hadn't heard him approach.

"Sorry for startling you, I thought I'd be finished before you came back. I was dying to get out of that tux." He said, explaining his sudden disappearance.

"Oh! No, that's fine," he's so charming and perfect, why did I have to be such a dorky klutz? I guess opposites really do attract, although it was difficult imagining Edward being attracted to me in any way.

"No, it's not, I should have waited." He looked around the garden for a moment and knelt down to a rose bush next to him.

"Please, forgive me." He said smoothly, plucking a single, red rose from the shrubbery, and offering it to me. The blush that had been fading away raged back to the surface. This made him smile tenderly, "I'll take that as a yes." He said, pressing the stem of the rose into the palm of my hand, and rolling my fingers closed around it.

"Are you ready?" asked Edward as he stood back up. I looked at him quizzingly. He smiled warmly and asked, "Do you trust me?" This took me aback.

"Yes." I answered slowly, taking the hand that he offered me. He slung my 128 pounds over his shoulder and onto his back as if I were nothing more than a feather pillow. He inclined his head so his face was tilted closer to mine and said, "You'd better hold on tight spider monkey." He grabbed hold of my thighs right above the knee and tightened my legs around his torso, then he fastened my arms around his neck. He looked back at me again, "Don't let go." He said in an almost questioning tone.

"I promise." I replied.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay, just close your eyes and we'll be there before you know it." He reassured me before leaping into the foliage and breaking into a sprint.

Edward's running was the most graceful movement I had ever experienced, it was like rolling a marble across a glass tabletop, only smoother. I attempted lifting my head, to feel the breeze pulse against my skin as he ran, and was lashed across the face by the wind, whistling past us much faster than I had thought. I ducked my head back behind his, and peeled my eyes open to see the forest rushing by at an alarming rate. I gasped, which caught Edward's attention, he turned to look at me.

"Watch where you're going!" I half screamed at him just in time for him to swerve and miss an oncoming tree.

"I told you to keep your eyes closed!" He yelled back to be heard over the raging wind. At a loss for words I laid the side of my head down in between his shoulder blades and closed my eyes. I got an odd sensation then, like something was missing, but I couldn't place it, so I just ignored it.

When he came to a complete stop I hopped off, fully intending to confront him about what just happened, but he turned to me and his eyes were saturated with sorrow. My fear was forgotten. What I had planned to say was,_ "What the hell was that!?"_, what came out was, "What's wrong?" He lifted his eyes from where they rested, on my feet and said,

"I frightened you, didn't I?" My face softened, "Not really." It didn't look like he was buying into this bluff so I added, "More like you startled me, that's all. I mean, it's no exactly everyday I fly through the forest traveling faster than I would driving on the highway." I could see him draw back from me emotionally, he didn't want to talk about this. So I changed the subject,

"So is this where you've been trying to take me all night?" At this he withdrew even further, so I tried again.

"What's so special about this place?"

"Nothing. Just forget about it, never come to this place again. Please, just leave. The school's back that way." He said pointing back through some ferns arching up into the canopy of pine trees. When I looked back to him he was walking the other direction, his head dangling from his hunched shoulders.

"What about you?" I called after him. He stopped dead in his tracks, but didn't bother to turn around to answer me.

"I'm going home." His voice was distant, cold, it cut me deeper than Ryan ever could.

"No! Please don't go! I don't want you to leave!" He turned to me then, he looked at me with hate dripping from his eyes, it frightened me. When he spoke again it was like a dragon breathing fire into my face.

"I know, that's why I have to." It was silent for several seconds before Edward turned and started to walk away again. I was desperate, I only had one shot at getting him to stay, I had to say something, anything, that would hold his attention. I started racking my brain for something to say.

"Bella!" I shouted, praying this would work. Edward stopped walking and turned a quarter of the way back around, "What?" I can't believe this is actually working!

"I'm Bella." I said taking several steps forward and snagging my foot on a tree root, twisting its way out of the ground like an octopus that misplaced one of its tentacles, and was sent flailing to the forest floor, a ripple of pain shooting up my leg as my ankle twisted. I pulled myself off the rocky ground but toppled back onto it when I tried putting weight on my bad ankle. I rolled back over and sat up, clutching my leg with both hands, I could feel my eyes beginning to water but tried to bite back the tears. Lifting my head to tell Edward I was hurt I saw that he was already there, leaning down to scoop me up into his arms. He lifted me up and carried me over to a tree stump, grown over with different kinds of twisting, turning vines and some moss, making it soft enough to be comfortable. Rolling a small boulder over to the stump he sat across from me and pulled my foot up into his lap.

"Does this hurt?" He asked me, pushing his first two fingers into the most sensitive spot. I shrieked and squeezed my thigh, digging my nails into the denim. He took my hands into his, "It's not broken, but if you try walking on it, it will be."

"Please don't go." I whispered.

For a moment his features contorted into a look that was pained. There was something he wasn't telling me, but I didn't care, first I had to make sure he wasn't going to leave.

"Bella, I…" He started, but I wasn't going to let him finish, he was going to stay one way or another.

"Please! How else am I supposed to get home? My ankle's almost broken, and I'm bound to get lost anyways. Please." He had no other option, and we both knew it.

"Fine. I'll take you home, but that's it, after that I'm gone." I dropped my head, admitting that bit of defeat, "Fine."

"You ready?" He asked. I just shook my head, "No."

He sighed, "Bella. Don't do this just to spend more time with me. It's not safe."

"I'm not doing anything, I really am hurt." I retorted. He shook his head, "I know that, it's just…"

"Just what?" I asked, impatient.

"This isn't safe." He said, brushing his hand against my cheeks.

"You see, that's what I don't understand. What about this is dangerous? I don't feel scared." The sorrow returned to his eyes then.

"You should." He whispered before slipping his hands out from where I held them to my face and propped his elbows on his knees, cradling his face in his hands.

"Why?" I asked, slowly, not wanting to upset him, knowing I was the more vulnerable component in this situation. He didn't move, nor did he respond to me. I placed my hand on the top of his head. He jumped up, pacing the length of the small clearing, he stopped briefly and bent down to pick something up. It was just the rose he had given me, when he straightened up he continued his pacing, absently plucking thorns from the stem. He looked like he was deliberating something, so I just watched him in silence.

After several minutes he walked back to the boulder and sat down across from me, I was a bit relieved, it felt like he was less likely to leave when he was sitting so close.

"Talk to me." He said then, his perfect lips curving down into a snarl.

"What about?" I whisper meekly, the hate that he looked at me with earlier was leaking back into his eyes.

"It doesn't matter," he closed his eyes, "anything. What kind of music do you listen to?" I thought about this for a moment, until I felt his glare melting into the side of my face.

"I listen to a little of everything mostly, some rock here, some pop there, every once in a while I'll bust into the classical stuff, especially when I want to relax. I'm not too big on rap, it's not really good for much, other than dancing to, but even then…"

"Alice must be going crazy." he said, mostly to himself, interrupting me. I was astounded, "Is she your…" I was trying to say girlfriend, but couldn't, it would explain some of his odder behaviors tonight, some. Fortunately he butted in, saving myself some humiliation.

"No. Alice is my sister, Jasper is her betrothed."

"Oh, you don't live with your parents?"

"We all live together, Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and myself."

"That must be lonely" I whispered to myself, but still Edward asked, "What?" I looked up at him through the veil of my eyelashes and said, "You paired everyone else up and you're alone. Am I right to assume that that means they're together and you're single?" His cheekbones sunk a bit, making him look even more sullen, "Yes, that assumption would be correct."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Dropping his head back into his hands he added, "My god Bella! Why are you making this so hard!?" I was taken aback, what was he talking about?

"Bella, don't you see?" he asked grabbing me by my shoulders, "Don't you!?" he asked again, giving my shoulders a gentle shake.

"No! I don't! I don't even know what you mean!" I half shouted, my eyes pleading. He let go of my shoulders then and leaned back on his boulder, cupping his face, upright, in his hands. A few moments later he let his hands drop and his face was smooth again, his emotions under control. He looked across the small space between us and said,

"Bella, I brought you here to kill you."


	5. Chapter Four: Every Rose Has It's Thorn

**Chapter 4:**

* * *

My eyes widened, he had to be joking, there was no way this was happening. Then I remembered myself thinking the same thing about how nice he was to me not too long ago, when we first met. But he continued to stare at me with the same neutral expression as when he had said it, his eyes as flat and emotionless as a polished stone. They almost seemed to gleam, at the thought, in the patchy moonlight that was filtering down through the tree branches overhead.

"Are you afraid now?" He asked, almost smugly. There was no point in lying, "A little." My voice quivered, rising several pitches, my breath coming out in short, staccato pants. He just smiled back at me. Not like before, this smile was different, crueler, lifeless. He lifted his arm and, again, offered me the rose.

When I took it he grabbed my forearm with his free hand and slung me fireman style over his shoulders and began running in the opposite direction of the arch of ferns, the direction he had said was the way back, out of the woods.

We had been running for little more than five minutes or so when we came to a large clearing. There was a colossal house in the middle of the clearing. It's design was truly unique, white, with four large pillars lined up across the front, supporting the black, triangular roof, just like in old movies, and there were many sections of the house, some of them full walls, that were constructed entirely of glass. The delicate light coming from the mansion of glass was truly enchanting. Edward began to slow his sprint into a slight canter, this couldn't be good, this meant my end was rapidly approaching. I began to squirm, not wanting to give up without a fight, but painfully aware of the fact that there was no way I would be able to fight Edward off. I was beginning to question if he were even human. Underneath me, Edward snorted.

He stopped just inches before the side door, kicked it in and shouted, "Carlisle!"

After rapidly gliding through what looked like a kitchen and out into a large foyer. I saw a blonde man on the second to bottom step in the stairwell. When I looked up at him he was reaching out in the direction of Edward and myself, the shock was plain on his face.

One by one I saw more and more unfamiliar faces pour in from upstairs, each stopping further away then the last had, each as equally shocked as the blonde man. The fact that no one seemed to be afraid to show how they were truly feeling on their faces scared me, it meant all pretences were gone. The game was over, this was all real.

"How could you bring _that _here!?" Roared a devastatingly gorgeous girl with blonde waves cascading down to her waist. The blonde man whirled his head around to her and said,

"Rosalie! This matter is much more delicate than that, and is none of your concern." She narrowed her eyes at him, and opened her mouth to argue with the blonde man. Before she had time to speak, however, Edward dumped me onto the creamy tiles that reflected the soft lights overhead and the twinkling candlelight from the wall holsters.

"Please don't fight over my mistake, I made this mess and I intend to fix it, I just came for Carlisle's council first." His voice was neither nervous nor angry. Everyone was both silent, and still, I saw this as my window of opportunity. Taking in a deep breath, what very well may be my last breath, I sprinted from the floor back the way Edward had brought me in. I had barely made the door when I was back in Edward's unshakable grasp. I wriggled and writhed in vain, in my attempts to free myself I kicked the kitchen doorjamb, there was a distinct, sickening snap, after that all I felt was crippling pain. Edward brought me back to the front room and threw me onto the floor, in exactly the same spot I had been before. When I tried sliding my arms underneath my throbbing body to lift myself back up he grabbed me by my now broken ankle and squeezed, bringing me to the fetal position instantly.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" He barked at me, "You've succeeded in breaking your ankle, are you happy?" He continued, squeezing my ankle even harder. As determined as I was not to let any of them see that I was in pain I let out a small yelp. Somewhere at the top of the stairs I heard the one they called Rosalie chortle darkly.

"Edward! That's not helping any." Said the blonde man, I think Edward had called him Carlisle. Edward released my swollen ankle, and I dug my nails into the skin of my calf to relieve some of the pressure flowing through the veins in my leg. Carlisle began to slowly approach me, outstretching his hand to me. I didn't want any of _them_ touching me. I began dragging myself across the tiles and into the small corner space between the doorjamb I had kicked and the side of the stairwell. Resting my head against the concaved section of wall, trying to level my breathing which had become ragged, I heard a slight gasp come from above my head. It was like someone had dropped a tinkling bell onto the floor, short, high pitched, and musical, sweet. Then I heard the voice that unmistaken ably belonged to the gasp, she said,

"Jasper, you should probably leave. Now." Whoever she was sounded like a pixie. Confused, I looked to Edward hoping to get answers. He was frozen solid, like an ice carving, his expression was wild, I've never seen such an expression, it made me nervous. My grip on the rose, Edward had given me earlier, began to tighten. Unfortunately, Edward hadn't torn off all of the thorns, because one of them pierced the muddy skin of my palm, it didn't hurt too much in comparison to everything else that had happened so far. I pulled back my hand to inspect the damage, the thorn was lodged in my palm. Pulling it out released a tiny burst of scarlet blood, which rapidly began pooling into the curve of my hand.


	6. Chapter Five: Human Ragdoll

**Chapter 5:**

* * *

I was slammed into the corner, my head banging into it violently, my rib cage crushing in on itself until it perfectly contoured the 90 degree crevice. After that, neither my eyes or my mind were fast enough to keep up with the people and objects whirring around me like an old VHS stuck on fast forward. Nothing made sense. I know I flew across the room several times… there was definitely the distinct sound of glass shattering. There were many bodies fluttering around me in a blur that resembled a runny watercolor painting. Someone was shouting. No. Several people were fighting, they were all growling and screaming, I've never heard anything like it.

I think I had been thrown to the floor, I was stationary now. My head began to pulse, in sync with my racing heartbeat. I put my hand up to touch my throbbing head, when I pulled it away, my hand, from the fingertips down to the wrist, was soaked. Someone grabbed hold of my bad ankle firmly, I shrieked as I was thrown back into the air, but instead of someone else catching me and playing keep away again, I struck the wall, with a brutal force that knocked the wind out of me, and fell about 15 feet into a crumpled heap on the floor. A human rag doll.

"Alice! Emmett! Get them out of here! Esme, Rosalie, go and assist them!" After a couple more minutes of deafening howls and snarling it was quiet, and then it was silent. Several moments later there were footsteps walking, cautiously, in my direction. With each deliberate step the adrenaline coursing through my veins faded, releasing numerous amounts of pain spreading through my entire body like a wildfire, raging out of control. When the footsteps stopped, there was the shadowy figure of a man hovering over me. He crouched down and rocked back onto his heels, after taking a deep, cleansing breath the man said,

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, you're a strong one. Come now, let's get you fixed up." I coughed on what tasted like my own blood and wheezed,

"I'm not going any where with any of _you_!" His eyes dropped to the floor,

"You don't have a choice, I'm afraid. If you stay here, you'll bleed to death. I don't think you realize how bad a shape you're in." I closed my eyes and sighed,

"Probably be better than what you guys are planning for me, anyway." I half whispered.

"Please…" He paused, not knowing what to call me.

"Bella." I offered, coughing up another round of blood.

"Bella, I need you to stay awake, please." I took a deep breath and felt a sharp pang in my side and groaned.

"Why should I listen to you?" He smiled at me then, in a kind way, almost proud or fatherly.

"I'm a doctor. Don't worry, Bella. I'm going to help you." I attempted to lift my head to look at him, and blacked out.

When I woke, my head was resting gently on a fluffy feather pillow in a satin case, I ran a hand across the bedspread, it was a matching set. Using that arm, I tried to sit up, but didn't even make it halfway. I flopped back onto the satin bed, groaning, my head felt flat and ached, like an elephant had stepped on it

"Hush now, you'll be okay, you just need to rest." It was _his_ voice. My eyes shot open for the first time since I had regained consciousness. I didn't want _him _talking to me, I didn't want _him_ anywhere near me! But, they were _all_ there, staring at me, with exception to Rosalie, and the other boy whose name I did not know. But that didn't matter, _they_ had helped me. _He_, however, was standing there, restrained by a member of his family on both sides. I narrowed my eyes at him, but otherwise showed no signs that I acknowledged his presence.

"How bad am I?" I asked, my question directed towards Carlisle, but _he _answered anyways.

"You suffered some severe head trauma, with mild bleeding, your shoulder was dislocated, you're right forearm is severely fractured, one of your ribs is cracked, some deep cuts, and major bruising. Oh, and your ankle's broken."

"Duh." I retort softly, rolling my eyes to rest on him, scathingly. _His_ expression was much different than I had imagined it would be, pleading and apologetic. It made me feel compelled to reach out and touch him, to soothe him, tell him everything would be okay. _No! I'm not falling for that again! It's what he wants, what he's expecting. He's just going to have to deal with disappointment. _I thought to myself, throwing black fireballs of hate deep into his retinas.

Growing tired of staring into the eyes that itched to see me dead, I rolled my head around so I would face Carlisle, the tender blonde man who had taken care of me.

"Would anyone mind explaining to me what, exactly, happened last night?" They all turned to look at each other. From Carlisle to the older woman, of the group, who was clinging to his arm, to the big brawny man with wild, curly hair who was clutching Edward's right arm with one hand and his right shoulder with his other, to Edward, to a childishly petite girl with short, choppy black hair that spiked out around her ears in all directions like she had stuck a fork in a light socket, she was restraining Edward's left arm, though hardly looked qualified.

They all had the same chalky skin, and their features were all very similar, all perfect and beautiful. They even managed to make the soft purple rings under their eyes look like a fashion statement. All of their eyes were that golden amber that Edward's had been when we first danced together. Oddly, his were now a deep black with a shock of fiery red circling his pupils and he had black bags drooping under his eyes like he was just in a bar fight. Finally Carlisle spoke out,

"You pricked your palm on the thorn from the rose and you were bleeding."

"Yes, I remember. I was referring to after that." Again they all swiveled their heads around to look at each other, trying to decide how much to tell me, probably. The small girl with the spiky black hair cleared her throat,

"Don't worry, she can handle it. I can see that she will." She chimed, winking at me playfully. She was the mysterious girl who I had thought sounded like a pixie last night, I should have guessed it had been her, the voice fit her physique perfectly. Carlisle looked to Edward, who sighed and nodded, before Carlisle explained,

"We're…a little different. Blood is a bit of a problem for us. And, last night you began to bleed unexpectedly in a room with two particular family members whom aren't as capable of controlling themselves." Edward cleared his throat, a small sense of dignity playing at his dead eyes, Carlisle half smiled at him and added,

"One, more specifically, unable to control himself around _your _blood." Edward smiled at Carlisle, having been justified. The pixie girl didn't seem to like that too much, because she tightened her grip on Edward's arm. And although he was solid as a marble slab underneath _my_ fingertips and as immovable as a block of granite he actually tried jerking his arm away, as if she had hurt him. I think I might actually like that one, I wonder what her name could be…Tinkerbell? Edward looked at me, his eyes wide with disbelief, before bursting into laughter.

"What?" I snapped at him. He had no right to look at me, especially not like that, like he had done nothing wrong. His laughter stopped abruptly.

"Bella, I…" he said softly, almost a whisper, taking a step towards me, causing both Tinkerbell and the Hulk to tighten their grip on his arms, holding him back. Then I remembered Edward saying that I had several cuts, they must be afraid that he'd attack me again.

"No! I don't want to hear it!" I screamed at him, as loud as my rib injury would allow.

"Bella, please." He pleaded.

"No!"

"Just listen to me!"

"Why? I already know. _You_ want to kill me," I say shooting daggers at him with my eyes, "and everyone else is trying to help me. It's a little confusing, I'll admit, but that seems to be the gist of it." His eyes narrowed into tiny slits,

"You know nothing!" he raged before tearing his arms free from the Hulk and Tinkerbell and racing from the room. _He had the strength to fight them off after all. Wait! That means he could have pulled free and killed me at anytime! _I thought to myself. From what sounded like downstairs I heard him bellow,

"But! I! didn't!"


	7. Chapter Six: Homesick Truths

**Chapter 6:**

* * *

"I do apologize for not having introduced myself before, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, you may call me Carlisle."

"And this," Carlisle continued motioning to the woman who had been hugging onto his arm like her very life depended on it, " is my wife, Esme." Esme smiled at me, kindly and spoke to me in a voice as warm and inviting as melting honey,

"It's wonderful to meet you, Bella, I hope you'll feel welcome here in our home during your stay with us." I must have looked worried in response to that statement because she momentarily stumbled for words before continuing with introductions.

"This is Emmett," she said waving her hand aimlessly through the air until it made contact with the Hulk's shoulder. He straightened up, doubling himself in size, he looked like the big brother I never had. He searched the room for a moment before saying,

"Uhh, Rosalie's downstairs."

"And that's where she's going to stay!" Rosalie shouted from downstairs. Emmett looked at me, apologetically,

"Sorry about that, she's watching Jasper, to make sure he's okay. She's uhrm…she's a bit…upset about this whole thing." I grunted. I didn't feel like understanding, or acting rational in a situation that was beyond reason.

"I'm Alice!" Gushed Tinkerbell, rushing up to me and leaping gracefully onto the small empty space on the bed beside me, it didn't even rattle the springs. Before I had time to react to the overly flamboyant nature of this eccentric girl, she continued with,

"Jasper's downstairs, we all thought it be safer if he kept his distance, especially after last night."

"Is he the one who attacked me?" I asked. She looked down to the satin sheets and frowned,

"Yes, him and…Edward." she sighed and lifted her gaze from the silky red sheets and looked deep into my eyes and said, "I apologize for that, I should have gotten them out of there sooner." I'm not entirely sure what came over me then, but I smiled at her slightly and rested a hand on her shoulder,

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have believed Edward." I said, a single tear rolling over my bottom eyelashes and splashing onto the breast of my shirt. Tinkerbell's lips tweaked up at the corners into a sheepish smile,

"You just don't fully understand, yet. Get some rest, you've earned it, when you wake up, I'll explain everything."

"Alice!" Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett jumped, all looking equally concerned.

"What? She has the right to know, does she not?" She looked at them accusingly, "We could've let Jasper and Edward kill her, but we didn't, thus _we_ got her tangled up in this mess. She shouldn't be kept in the dark, that would be rude, not to mention cruel. We owe her that much." I was stunned. Because, as much as I didn't want to face it right now, Tinkerbell was right.

Why? Why could I just go home? Why couldn't I wake up now? Why was this happening to me? Why couldn't things just go back to the way they were? These were all questions I needed answered.

"Why me?" I asked. Tinkerbell redirected her focus back onto me.

"I'm not the one to answer that question, I'm afraid," she said, her tone turning apologetic, "and Edward's in no mood for _that _particular subject. Besides, you need your rest, you've had a rough night." I scoffed, it was strange that she could describe everything that had happened to me last night so casually.

"I don't feel like sleeping." I say, mild irritation leaking into my tone. Tinkerbell smiled at me, giggling slightly,

"I suppose I can understand that, but it would be best. Not only because you need it, but also to kill the time. I can promise you that you won't get any answers from Edward within the next several hours."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked her, positive that I could convince him to give me the answers I seeked, like she had said, they owed me that much.

Her smile widened, both liquid gold eyes twinkling in the warm candlelight filtering through the elegant red and gold bedroom.

"I have my ways." She announced, a hidden pride lingering in that simple sentence. I gave her a questioning look, twice as confused than I already was.

"You'll see, but first, get some sleep." She said putting a hand on my shoulder, gently pushing my head back onto the fluffy pile of pillows.

"I'm not tired, I swear. I just want to know the truth and go home." Her large smile fell into a look of pure sorrow.

"I'm so sorry, but…"

"What?" I all but squealed, suddenly in a panic.

"Bella…you going home hasn't been an option since you accepted that dance with Edward."


	8. Chapter Seven: Curious Tendencies

**Chapter 7:**

* * *

Every ounce of liquid remaining in my body came seeping out of my eyes, my ragged breathing began to escalate to a forced hyperventilation, my head began violently shaking from side to side. I would crawl if I have to, I had to get out of here! I was trapped, Alice's firm, but tender, hands were holding me down. I lay there squirming, and wriggling, trying to break myself free, practically defenseless, but too scared to give in even though my entire body was shrieking in agony. Edward appeared in the doorway.

"Let her go." He said calmly. Alice's smooth, child's hands eased from my body, but continued to hover where they had been.

"Why?" She asked, defiantly. He smiled at her, that same lifeless smile he had given me in the woods,

"I'm curious," he said flatly, his eyes narrowing in my direction. Alice looked down at me, frightened. I threw her hands the rest of the way away and rolled off the bed. It was a much farther fall to the ground than I had anticipated. I clutched my arms close to my chest and rolled out of the fall, but still jostled my cracked rib and fractured arm, making me whimper. Using my left hand and right elbow I began to crawl across the beautiful, glossy chestnut colored, wood panels towards the door. Each inch was excruciating, but I didn't have time to feel the pain, I had to get home first.

At the door I ran into my first obstacle. Edward was still standing in the doorway, his shoulder leaned up against the frame, his legs crossed at the ankles, slanting the length of him all the way across my only exit. His dark figure loomed up over me, blocking me from the one thing I wanted most. I put my weight onto my elbow and looked up at his pale face, he grinned down at me smugly. Furrowing my eyebrows together I tried to look as forceful as possible,

"You're in my way." I said to him. His smug grin grew into a mocking smile.

"Oh, how stupid of me to be in the way of an injured human."

I wanted to cry. Why did he have to be so cruel? His hard expression slipped for a brief moment into an apology and he reached out to me, but when I drew back his persona of "I don't care" was put carefully back into place and he straightened himself back up. There was no time for tears, I had to get home first. Edward's eerie smile grew even wider and he leaned down so close that his icy breath nipped at my ear when he whispered,

"You are home."

Chills ran up and down my aching spine whether from his breathe, or just the way he sounded so certain. I shrank away from him and pulled myself through the door much too fast, sending lightening bolts rattling through my arm and rolling my ribcage making me cough back the stinging pain. I strained my watering eyes to see around the darkened hallway that only had two sources of light, the light from the open door behind me and the light pouring up from the grand staircase, only to see that I was coming out of the very last room at the very end of a very long hallway. And I would have an enormous staircase to look forward to after that. Goody. I sighed and continued to haul myself across the floor traveling half the speed of pregnancy. Once I had gotten to the stairs I gripped onto the red oak banister as best I could and slid my legs out and around until I was sitting on the top step. Slowly, using my good leg, I scooted myself down the stairs, step by step, and onto the creamy marble tiles in the entry of the glass mansion. Rolling back around to my stomach I propped myself up onto my left arm and hip, hoping it would be faster to drag myself sideways, and began to make my way for the front door. I twisted the brass knob and was struck hard by the thick, oak door as it was hammered, on the other side, by the howling Washington wind. I let it swing the rest of the way open, and pushed my aching mass forward through the frigid wind and icy drizzle.

About an hour later I was within spitting distance of the tree line. Knowing that my voyage would be much more difficult once I was in the wood and also positive that they weren't going to stop me from leaving I decided that I'd earned a break. I propped myself up on a tree, panting heavily from the effort it had taken me just to make it this far, a distance that probably would have taken minutes had I been able to walk. Looking back to the glass mansion, I hoped never to see again, I saw that the door wasn't closed yet, and there were two shadowed silhouettes blocking the warm glow of the candles hanging on the walls. They were watching me struggle. In that moment I had a realization, "Let her go." … "I'm curious", he had said. They weren't stopping me because they weren't expecting me to make it, they wanted to see how far I would get. As if to prove my theory the wind ripped through the shirt Edward had given me to wear and I shuddered against the cold, the rough bark turning to a block of ice against my back. I needed to keep moving.

The dense underbrush in the forest of Forks Washington is both harsh and unforgiving. The ground is even colder and harder than Edward's icy fingers it's also littered with dagger sharp rocks and vines covered in thorns. It was cold, I was alone, and I didn't have the slightest idea where I was or where I was going. As much as I hated it, I was about the prove the Cullens right, I wasn't going to make it. Not here, not like this. I crawled just a little further to a small patch of ferns, they were wet, but more comfortable than the bare ground. As I lay on my bed of ferns I prepared to freeze. Here in the darkness the forest canopy protected me from most of the rain but still lightly showered my frozen body and rocked me with its raging winds. The quiet here was deafening as I lay in silence, waiting to die.


	9. Chapter Eight: Sleeping Ice

**Chapter 8:**

* * *

I began to cry, knowing that this would be my last chance, but stopped abruptly. I was already doing something I never should've considered. Giving up. What good would it do if I was also miserable. I was going to hold my head high to the bitter end. I started to wonder what would have happened to me, had I stayed with the Cullens. Should I have stayed? Alice said that I couldn't leave, not that I would be tortured or killed, and they seemed so nice. No. Ted Bundy probably seemed nice to his victims at first too. This was definitely better, this was a certain thing. I was going to die. I knew that, here. There was no knowing what they had planned for me, not there. It's strange that I'm not more panicked, I feel like I should be freaking out, but this is so much different than I had always imagined. This was peaceful, easy. Maybe this really was for the better. I closed my eyes and started to drift off, started to dream.

I was back in the secret garden. Edward was there, and he was smiling at me. He pulled me up into his arms and laid his cheek against my temple and whispered into my ear,

"You truly are a wonder, I never thought you'd make it this far." I smiled, he was complementing me, calling me strong. I pulled myself even closer to him, hooking my arms underneath his and holding onto his shoulder blades. He was so warm, now I knew for sure I was dreaming. I remembered touching him before, his skin was ice cold and hard as stone. Although he was still hard, his skin seemed a more normal temperature now.

"Don't worry Bella, you'll be okay, I'll keep you safe."

I smiled at him tenderly.

"No, you won't. I'm dying, Edward." He looked scared.

"No, don't say that. You'll be fine, we just have to get you back to the house, that's all."

"No, I think I'll stay here." I murmured laying back down onto the patch of ferns, still clutching him in my arms.

"Fine. If you're not going to come quietly, I guess we'll just have to do things the hard way. Again."

Suddenly everything came zooming back into focus. The garden was gone but… Edward really was there. Edward really was in my arms. Edward really was trying to help me. He lifted me from the ferns and on to his back with the same grace and ease as he had in the garden and then again in the woods. Before I could make sense of anything else we were flying through the forest faster than when he was taking me to the clearing. Within a matter of minutes we were back at his mansion, through the front door, and in a large room with a small gathering of couches and a fireplace that would have any firefighter sitting on the edge of their seats. The living room, maybe.

"I need some blankets, she's freezing." He said, laying me down in front of the blazing fire. The waves of heat lapped at my frostbitten body, melting away the ice that was killing me, slowly thawing me. I lay huddled on the floor, clutching onto the hope that Edward did care and also the hope that I might not die this night. I wanted so badly to sit up and look around at everyone, to see what they were feeling about Edward saving me, but it was still too cold for me to even move. My breathing was no more than shallow gasps for air. My eyelids were becoming increasingly heavy. Edward came sweeping back into the room balancing a stack of quilts in his outstretched arms. He knelt down next to me and set the quilts on the floor beside him, pulling the one off the top and wrapping it securely around my shoulders and tucking it underneath the rest of me.

"Bella, listen to me, this is important. You need to stay awake, okay?"

I groaned, I wanted to sleep.

"I know you do, but you must stay conscious. Otherwise you might slip away, you have to hang on for just awhile longer."

"Why? What's it to you if I croak?" He looked shocked, like he couldn't imagine why I would say that.

"Bella, this situation is so much deeper than you seem to realize. Please just concentrate on keeping yourself alive and I'll tell you everything you want to know. I'll take care of you, I promise."

I heard Alice gasp lightly from somewhere behind me. Edward's entire body stiffened and his head inched around to look over his shoulder. I followed his glare, it was directed at Alice who stood loyally at Jasper's side, her hands loosely balled together in front of her face to hide her growing smile.


	10. Chapter Nine: Thump, Thump, Flatline?

**Chapter 9:**

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked. His voice was soft and kind but his posture was still unpleasantly stiff.

"Better." I moaned, my throat was raw and dry from the bitter cold, it hurt just to speak, "A little weak, but better." His expression was slightly puzzled for a moment then he asked me,

"When was the last time you ate?" Oh. I hadn't even thought about that.

"Uhmmmm…." I couldn't remember.

"I see." He said. He stood up and moved closer to his family, turning his back to me. "Carlisle, would we happen to have anything we could feed the human?"

_The Human??_ Was that all I was now?

"If I remember correctly _The Human _has a name." I whispered meekly. Lifting my head up to balance on the tip of my chin so we could see each other well enough that he could see that I didn't like being referred to as "The Human" and that I could see his reaction to my words. But he didn't even stop to look at me. He just turned his chin slightly closer in my direction and paused long enough to say,

"I know," before resuming his conversation with Carlisle. What had happened to _that_ Edward from the woods? All that concern. All that fear he had had about my safety, my life. Where did it all go? This was an answer I couldn't afford to wait for. I willed myself the strength to, at least, sit up and turn around to face them.

"You know, your mood swings are starting to give me whiplash." I interjected, cutting Edward off mid sentence, but not without some level of effort. They all stopped to stare at me, wide eyed, again with the exception of Rosalie and Jasper. Rosalie was standing in a darkened corner, her face focused on the wall, her expression playing at uninterested. And Jasper was still nowhere to be seen.

"What?" Edward asked me, a bit startled. Again, as if he couldn't comprehend why I would say such a thing.

"What do I have to do to make you choose a side? What will it take?"

"Bel….", He started to say my name but stopped and sighed, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know that you seem to hate me unless I'm in danger from anything other than yourself."

He just stared at me, his eyebrows slowly pulling together. After a long moment Edward spoke, the rest of the Cullens and myself all released the breath we had been holding on to in that moment of silence.

"You're right." I almost felt like smiling a little, it felt like I might, actually, be winning this argument. _Maybe_, I thought to myself. But then he added,

"I can't stand you," _maybe not_, "You're stubborn and you don't listen, but as infuriating as that is the worst part is I can't make myself stay away from you!" Edward turned his back on me and began stalking out of the room. He wasn't about to avoid this conversation that easily, I wouldn't allow it. I slid my good leg out from underneath me and planted my foot firmly on the ground, knowing what would happen as soon as I tried to stand on _both _legs. When I got myself upright three things took place instantaneously. One, I dropped the blanket from my shoulders and all the world's warmth was sucked away from me, leaving me bare and freezing, I couldn't even feel the raging fire on my back anymore, just a dense chill. Two, an overpowering wave of nausea rolled through me and my head began pounding, I could hear it coming out my ears as fast as helicopter blades. And three, was the anticipated electric shock shooting from my ankle and ricocheting through my leg when I put even the slightest bit of weight onto it. In the second it took me to hit the floor, violently shivering and whimpering, Edward had swooped back in from the other room and down onto the floor at my side. He wrapped the quilt back around my shaking shoulders, leaving his hand rested there.

"You see what I mean?" He whispered absently, his gaze fixated on the floor next to my face. I sighed, bracing myself to speak,

"Not yet." He looked into my pleading eyes and sighed.

"Edward, please. I don't understand what's happening, or why? Why am I here? Why is this happening? Why can't I leave?"

"Because you're badly injured and dying." I rolled my eyes, he was dodging the real answers.

"I know that, but I'll get better. Why won't I be able to leave then?" His eyes drifted back to the floor. Alice was right, he didn't want to talk about this. For a brief moment Edward's eyes darted onto Alice before wandering back to their place on the floor. Alice saw this as her opportunity to chime in,

"Oh, come on Edward. Just go ahead and tell her."

"No. I'm not going to bother her with that."

"Just for now, because you don't wish to traumatize her even more? Or ever?"

"Both." His tone was beginning to darken.

"Edward if you don't tell her, I will. She needs to know."

Edward was on his feet, towering over Alice's slight figure, Alice didn't even flinch.

"You wouldn't dare!" He was fuming.

Edward bolted for the window. In a single elegant movement he had opened the translucent slab of glass and had leaped through the empty hole in the wall and was gone, leaving the night wind ripping through the silent room. After a prolonged moment of stillness Esme left Carlisle's side to close the window. Carlisle walked over to me and scooped me up into his arms, quilt and all, laying my head against his chest. As he whisked me up the stairs, no doubt to bed rest me for the remainder of my recovery, I felt the absence of a light _thump thump _against the side of my face. I then remembered not having felt the same thing earlier that night. As if it were still occurring I thought of the way I had laid my head flat into the crease of Edward's shoulder blades. I hadn't been able to place it then, but looking back I distinctly remember _not_ hearing his heartbeat.


	11. Chapter Ten: Such A Heavenly Torture

**Chapter 10:**

* * *

I've been in bed for the last two and a half months. Pumped with morphine sometimes, and completely sober other times. I liked the times with the morphine coursing through my veins better, I would sleep, which made the time pass much quicker. I was growing infinitely fond of Alice, who would stay and visit with me when she brought me my meals at least two or three times a day, though, none of her visits ever lasted long enough. About the time we ran out of things to talk about and we'd just be sitting in silence, enjoying each other's company, Edward would come up to the door and scurry her off, complaining that I needed my rest and that she should quit pestering me. And when she was gone, it was silent, he had left too.

Besides Alice's frequent visits and Carlisle coming in every now and again to administer morphine, I was generally alone. Edward purposefully kept his distance and the others, with the exception of Alice, didn't bother themselves to check in on "the human". Other than the daily dosage of his angelic voice, Edward might as well have not existed to me, he never actually entered the room when ridding me of Alice, he only stood just outside of the door and barked at her from the safety of the hallway. It was maddening. But if that's all I would ever get of Edward, I would take it and be happy. Although it wasn't very much, it was better than nothing at all. A heavenly torture.

I could always tell if it was Carlisle coming into the room or Alice, Carlisle would walk in slowly and professionally, holding a syringe firmly in one hand. Alice, however, would rush into the room, bubbling over with her usual excitement, and hop up onto the bed next to me, just like the first time we'd met, "Hey Bella!" she'd gush, always sounding like a tiny waterfall of trickling, silver bells. But today something was very different. Today Alice slowly drifted into the room, like a dismal gray cloud on a sunny day at the beach, and pulled up a chair. This worried me, Alice was my only friend here, I couldn't bare the thought of ever losing her. I wanted to ask her if she was okay but it seemed all too obvious that she wasn't. I wanted to ask her what was wrong.

_But what if she doesn't want to talk about it?_ I thought to myself.

Alice walked to the door and shut it, soundlessly, another thing she'd never done before, and whispered,

"Edward's going to kill me," so quietly I had to strain my ears to hear every hushed syllable. From downstairs I heard Edward howl, quite clearly,

"Alice!"

_Click_. Alice locked the door. In seconds I heard Edward's fist making contact, over and over again, with the polished wood of the door, as his other hand continued to jiggle the handle, hoping to shake it open. Alice took a deep breath and walked back to her chair and sat down, her legs crossed and her fingers laced together with her elbows propped up on the arms of the chair. I sat up and was about to ask her what was going on when she cleared her throat and began to talk.

"Bella, please don't speak, just listen. Edward is furious with me and will try to keep me away. I will answer all the questions you will have as soon as I can." She looked at me and I nodded to show that I understood. Alice stood and began pacing slowly through the room, she saw me glancing nervously at the door as it shook violently with Edward's efforts.

"Don't worry, when we built this house we made sure it was durable enough to withstand many of our temper tantrums. He won't get in through that door." She continued circling though the room, never really looking at me as she spoke.

"I was going to wait for you to start making guesses on your own, but you haven't, and I've stayed silent far too long." She paused, "Do you remember what Carlisle told you, that night when Edward first brought you here, about us being different?" I nodded again, fearful that if I allowed my mouth to open it would betray my oath to silence and gush out all of the questions I've been dying to have answered for months now.

"Well he's right," Alice continued, "We're _much_ different from your kind." I remembered Edward's pale, icy, hard skin, his blinding speed and agility, his unfailing strength, and the way that neither Carlisle or Edward's hearts were beating. I began to wonder about the others. Alice continued, as if she could hear my thoughts,

"We're all wicked fast and strong, we never sleep, we don't age or die, although, our bodies are already legally dead," this was beginning to sound all too familiar, but I couldn't bring myself to step back from the jigsaw puzzle before me and look at the bigger picture, "And we don't eat or drink anything, only blood." I scrunched my eyes at my friend who turned around to face me, mid sentence, making eye contact with me for the first time since she had started talking.

"Bella, we're vampires."


	12. Chapter Eleven: My Bella

**Chapter 11:**

* * *

Edward came barreling in from behind the heavy fabric curtain that occupied the entire west wall of the room. When it parted I caught a glimpse of the wall behind it for the first time. Although, it wasn't really a solid wall at all, it was a wall of glass. One huge window, overlooking a stretch of open forest, the view just brushed along the treetops, if it weren't for the thick blanket of clouds you could see the horizon meeting the sky far, far off into the distance. And, even though it was a usual soggy, gray, day of overcast, it was one of the more beautiful things I'd seen in the last few months, if not the most.

Edward flew across the room and tackled Alice into her chair, his right arm pinning her across her chest, his elbow on one shoulder and his hand, balled up into a tight fist around the fabric of her jacket, on her other. His opposite hand was clamped down hard over Alice's mouth. I was speechless, would he really hurt her for telling me the truth when no one else would? He was snarling at her, his lips were pulled back, baring his teeth. His undoubtedly razor sharp canines were alarmingly close to the pearly skin of her face. His eyes were intense and focused, both black oceans savagely roaring with his unspoken fury, searing each word he wanted to scream, soundlessly, into Alice's flesh. I wanted to say something, I wanted to make him stop. But I was in shock, everything was beginning to click. Alice had said that they drank blood, at prom Edward had said that he'd brought me to the clearing to kill me. Carlisle had said that blood was a problem for them, and Jasper and Edward had attacked me when the thorn had broken through my skin and I had started bleeding. Everything was starting to make total sense.

I started hyperventilating, the room was beginning to wobble on it's axis and spin circles around my head, which became light and surely would have floated to the ceiling had it not been held down by my mangled lower half.

"I knew this would happen." Edward said though gritted teeth. He fled the room, returning seconds later with a small syringe in his hand. The slender needle shimmering in the candle light that was scattered around the room. I started shaking my head.

"Don't worry Bella, it's just morphine, you'll feel much better when you wake up."

"No, I'm fine now. But, I've just learned that the family I'm being kept with are all vampires. Excuse me for being a bit shaken."

His eyes remained on my face through my brief rant, but they seemed to darken at the word _vampires. _He set the syringe down on the small bedside table and put his face in his hands.

"Alice, do you realize what you've done?" He asked her, his voice was deliberately slow, trying to mask a faint quiver of fear.

"I told her the truth…" She began to answer, confidently, but she was cut off by Edward's rage,

"You've condemned her!" Alice looked shocked and started backpedaling, stuttering for the right words.

"But…no, I…she…all I did was…that…that's not possible…she…Bella…she…she still has a choice!"

Edward squeezed his eyes shut and punched the wall so hard that the room rattled, I half expected his arm to be buried up to his elbow through the wall. He began to growl, like actually growl. Like a predator on the hunt, the noise brought with it flashbacks of that first night when he and his brother had both attacked me. The memory of those sounds I had heard, ripping and roaring from their throats, the threatening noises they had all made as they had fought over my helpless, flailing body, echoed through my head and I flinched away from it. Edward began to speak through the snarls rising up from deep within his marble chest, his eyes remained closed, his knuckles still pressed firmly against the golden wall.

"And what do you think she'll choose? And who do you think will _have_ to do it?" Alice's still face softened into a harbor of sympathy,

"Well Carlisle could. He already has for most of us, but I've seen it, Edward. I already know that she'll…"

"I know what you've seen! But Carlisle's overly confident that I have the control, he thinks that I'll be able to make the right decision!" Alice's sympathy vanished, all of her slight features tightened into fear as she looked back at me. She started nibbling on her lower lip, nervously, her eyes darting around the room, searching for answers.

"Alice, you'd better hope I have the strength to stop. Because of you, she'll either change or die. Either way she can't be human anymore." Edward's voice was so cold, it rushed under my skin, wildly tearing through my veins until it reached my heart, where it exploded into an icy blizzard. All the snow rested on my insides, sending a shiver sprinting down my spine. Alice's frantic eyes hovered on my face for only a moment before tracing the outlines of my slowly healing, human, body through the blood red satin sheets.

"Edward, I…I'm so sorry. If only I had known, I…I never would have…"

Edward's eyes snapped open, there was no emotion in them, they were dead. His eyebrows pulled together, creasing his creamy marble forehead. The sound of his voice was as dead as his eyes.

"Don't. Try and put the fault onto me. What you did was both stupid and irrational. And because of that your friend, My Bella, will die."


	13. Chapter Twelve: Bliss

**Chapter 12:**

* * *

Alice squinted in pain as the first of her tears flooded from her glistening, black eyes. She pressed the palm of her hand over her mouth to cage in the horrid noises she made as she fell to the floor, mourning my death. But I had tasted death before and, although I would miss Alice greatly, I welcomed the thought of death now. Something about dying in Edward's arms seemed much more pleasant than being lost in the woods, freezing to death, alone.

No, I would not give death a second thought now, my mind was too busy circling around how Edward had said "My Bella", what was that supposed to mean? Below me on the floor Alice's shoulders were shaking uncontrollably, bouncing up and down with her sobbing. Edward pressed his back up against the wall, inches from the door, and slid to the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest. He rested his head on the wall, his eyes were closed and his breathing was beginning to slow down and even out, he almost looked like he was sleeping. Someone came up to the door. She cleared her throat, and I lifted my eyes from Alice's weeping and Edward's remorseful position to see Rosalie leaning into the room. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had one eyebrow raised. I looked at the unnatural beauty of her face and she allowed eye contact for a split second before shifting the weight of her black eyes away from me as she muttered,

"That's the problem with humans…" she drifted off, letting the unfinished sentence hang in the air. Edward's lips parted, flashing his abnormally white teeth, and a heavy hiss escaped from his throat. Rosalie tucked a shimmering strand of silky gold hair behind her ear and clicked her tongue in mock displeasure,

"tsk, tsk. So testy." Edward's eyes snapped open, they were ready for the kill, but before he had time to do anything Rosalie continued,

"We're all ready Edward, Carlisle says it's time to put _it_ to sleep." Her thoughts must have been dark, they seemed to swirl around the air surrounding her head in a tangible cloud, she lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes in my direction, her smile turned cruel. Edward's shoulders stiffened and a rogue shriek rang up from the floor where Alice quivered. When no one moved Rosalie flipped her hair over her shoulder and was gone. Edward was the one who eventually broke through the silence that had blanketed the three of us for a lingering moment. He moved over to Alice's huddled mass, knelt down beside her, and laid his hands comfortingly around her shoulders. After whispering into her ear, Edward lifted Alice off of the floor from under her arms, like you would with a small toddler. She looked so frail in his hands, bone white, despite her tearful fit, her face and hands were sopping wet, she was still shaking, she looked a little wobbly on her feet. Edward tucked her tiny body under his arm and escorted her out of the room. Seconds later he returned, alone, and sat on the right corner at the foot of the bed, still keeping his distance but also coming much closer than he had in months. I just waited, figuring he had come back for a reason, and that he would get to it in his own time.

"How much of that did you understand?" He asked quietly, his head bowed, his eyes on the floor where Alice had been just moments ago. Alice already thought that she was the reason I was going to die. If the last good thing I could do in this life was ease her guilt, then that's what I would do. But before I could say, _none, why?_, Edward stopped me.

"Bella. Please, don't lie to me. They've gone, they can't hear us. How much?" He was looking at me. He was actually looking _directly_ at me. His eyes were burning deep into my soul, melting away the ice that had formed around my heart and the thick layer of snow that coated my insides. Both of his black eyes were as flat and unseeing as the eyes of a shark, and the thoughts lurking behind that polished glass were probably just as similar. Bloodthirsty and hungry. I could see my reflection, cowering on the other side of the bed, I looked so defenseless. But I suppose that's because I was. All he had to do was decide that he wanted to take my life and it would end. There was nothing I could do to stop him. But I had already decided for myself that if death were to present itself to me in this form I would take it, take it a hundred times and be glad.

There was something different, hidden deep inside. I had to look painfully hard to identify the unfamiliar light shining in Edward's eyes. There was an actual emotion flickering there, a luminous splash of compassion. I forced my eyes away from his face and on to his hands, they were balled up into a single white knuckled fist in his lap, his nails were digging into his skin. I knew I should have shied away from the thought that maybe, just maybe, he cared about me. I knew that he'd turn harsh and cold again. I looked up from his hands and saw that he was tilting his head at me, the compassion in his expression growing.

"But I do, Bella. I really do. I don't know why but… I can't figure out… I don't understand… This…this is…You're… It's just so…" Each time he couldn't find the right words to say he would sigh and shake his moppy red, gold hair. He wasn't ready to talk to me, not about this. He needed some time to think.

"Don't worry, I… I'm not going anywhere. He, that guy you're afraid of me turning into again, he's not coming back this time." He half smiled before standing up and walking over to the bedside table and picking up the syringe.

"Don't be afraid, we're just going out for a hunt. It makes it less difficult to be in the house with you. You should wake up a little while after we've returned." He inserted the sharp silver metal tip into the plastic tube that hung from a candle holder that was bolted up on the wall above my head, and fed fluids directly into my veins, and emptied its contents into the tiny, transparent cylinder. I tried to fight back the impending cloud of sleep that drew up around me within seconds. Edward knelt down by the bed, his shoulders level with my face. He placed one hand on my shoulder while his other hand traced the length of my jawbone, then he slid his fingers under my neck and, after taking a deep breath, probably to brace himself, he kissed me ever so briefly but ever so deeply on the forehead. Even after his lips were gone, the skin where they had been smoldered. I was too stunned to speak so I just let myself drift away into the most peaceful sleep I've had in a long, long time. The last thing to happen before the inevitable sleep took me into it's solid grasp was Edward's icy fingers on my neck as he whispered to me, his breath chilling my flesh, tingling my senses.

"Sleep now, love. I'll be back soon, My Bella." And with that, he was gone, and there was simply nothing. One vast darkness. Bliss.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Heaven's Light

**Chapter 13:**

* * *

I opened my eyes to a blinding, white light. It was as if I had finally waken up from a dream, that had turned into a nightmare, but I hadn't wanted to wake up anymore, because it had turned back into a dream again.

"Figures." I said rubbing the remainder of sleep from my eyes with the heel of my hand and rolling onto my stomach. _Ooh._ My ribs were a little tender, but it was probably just phantom pains, nothing more than a memory.

A couple years back a group of my friends had gotten together and decided to do something crazy to surprise me for my birthday. They thought that painting my room would be the most practical thing they could do. They also thought that I would approve of a heinous combination of blue and green that's more commonly referred to as "teal" and a dusty purple. At first I was horrified but soon I grew mildly accustomed to my ugly walls, but the walls I was staring at now were a warm shade of gold. I looked down at the bed I lay in, it certainly wasn't my twin sized bed with pale purple sheets and white comforter, all worn from years of use. These were bright, blood red, and all brand new. I was still in the Glass Mansion. I was awake, that must mean the Cullens were back.

I started looking around frantically. Was I really awake? I saw that the vibrant light that had woken me, was the sun, pouring in from the west wall. That in itself could be cause enough for me to think I was dreaming, its never sunny here, except for rare occasions. But someone had pulled back the heavy, velvet drapes, revealing that the glass was divided up into four equal quarters, making up two very large inward swinging glass windows. It was so beautiful.

The usual swarm of dark grey storm clouds had receded for today, making the sky a dull turquoise. Everything was still wet from the usual rain, it made the forest glisten green in the sunlight. My eyes began to roam through the woods. Everything was teeming with life. The birds were singing, the trees branches swayed in the wind. There was only one noise that was out of place, it was the sound of running water. It wasn't raining, but I could hear it. I strained my eyes to see farther.

About 100 yards from the house there was a small waterfall tripping down a pile of rocks into a lake, it was just big enough for a handful of people to swim in. Wildflowers grew in bunches around the lake, splattering the bare canvas of green grass with brilliant yellows, oranges, and purples. It was the most perfect little meadow.

"I thought you might like it." The sound of his voice startled me, I had forgotten I was still trapped in this house. In my mind I had been in the meadow, floating on my back atop the sparkling, crystal water, light as a feather, the warm sun beating down on my bare skin. No pain, no hurt, just weightless ecstasy. In my mind, I had been free.

Edward sat across the room, leaned back in Alice's chair. He had dragged it back into the corner closest to the wall of windows, totally enveloped in shadow. Had Alice not already revealed to me the truth I might have wondered why he hid himself from the sun. I pulled myself up and leaned my elbows onto my crossed legs for support.

"What?" I asked. He smiled at me kindly.

"It would be cruel of me to continue keeping you enclosed in this darkness. It was such a beautiful day today. Day's like this are so few here, it would be a terrible crime if you had missed it." I gazed back out at the vast forest stretching far out to the horizon where the mountains took over. Edward was right, it was a very beautiful day, unfortunately he was also right about these days being far too rare. Swirling around the mountain tops was the promise of coming rain, but I couldn't let my eyes linger there long, it was too sad. We sat like this until the dense rain clouds moved in and water started spattering the windows, Edward watching me watch the rain come closer and closer, slowly blotting out the sun.

"What would you like to know first?" He asked, breaking through my mild sorrow.

"What!?" I asked, baffled. It couldn't possibly be that easy. Could it? He continued to smile back at me, seeming to wait for a question to answer. "Where's Alice?" He seemed surprised by this question.

"Would you rather Alice answer your questions?" In that instant Alice appeared in the doorway, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"I told you she would." Alice chimed playfully.

"No." I interjected softly. "I want both of you to answer my questions." Edward and Alice locked eyes for a moment and then Edward leaned back into his seat and Alice leaned against the post at the foot of the bed.

"So be it." Edward whispered. "What would you like to know?" I thought about this for a moment, I didn't want to ask the wrong question, but I didn't want to forget anything important either, I needed answers.

"Why me?" Edward and Alice barely glanced at each other. Alice stared at the ground, but I hadn't intended that she would answer this question, she had already told me that she wasn't the one to answer this. My eyes shifted to Edward. He had closed his eyes and laid his head back onto the chair.

"Next." He breathed, lazily.

"What? You asked me what I wanted to know, you can't deny me the answer!" I knew it. Nothing was ever easy with him. He didn't move, his eyes remained closed, he only repeated,

"Next." I huffed and crossed my arms tightly over my chest. In the process I jostled my ribs, it stung a little. When I looked back at Edward he was smirking. I narrowed my eyes in his direction, he was so infuriating. I wanted so much to wipe that smug grin off his silky smooth face. If I hadn't known that it would hurt me more than it would him I might have leaped off the bed, across the room and hit him.

"I suppose we are even now." His taunting smile never wavered.

"How so?" I had to grind my teeth together to keep myself from screaming, I could feel my forehead furrowing in frustration.

"We seem to repel each other completely." He replied smoothly, his calm voice washing through my brain like warm syrup, making it harder for me to hate him as much as I knew I should because of all he's done to me.

"Yet _you _can't seem to stay away from me. Why is that?" My tone became less angry and more demanding. I wanted these answers, and I was tired of waiting for them.

From the corner of my eye Alice seemed to move, but didn't. Her physical posture didn't change, but there seemed to be a flickering of excitement lurking in her eyes. Excitement that was stifled when Edward cleared his throat

"Why can't I go home when I get better?"

Edward started to answer but was abruptly cut off by Alice who was eager to be of use.

"You simply know too much about us, and that's a risk we just can't afford, I'm afraid." She gushed in her normal fashion, but her tone lacked Alice's usual bubble. It was like being forced to drink a soda that had been left open for a week. Bitter and flat, unpleasant.

"I was never going to tell anyone."

"Not that they'd ever believe me." I muttered as a second thought.

"It wouldn't matter at this point." Edward interjected.

"And why not?"

"Your father has uprooted all of Forks looking for you."

"Charlie!?" My eyes widened. I had completely forgotten about Charlie. As much as I wanted, desperately, to get home, I had forgotten all life outside of this room, beyond the glass walls of this mansion, away from the Cullens. Away from Edward. There was no such life for me. There never would be again.

"Yes, Charlie. He's been going out of his mind since you disappeared. He's not sure what's most likely, that you ran away, got kidnapped, or attacked by animal. But he absolutely refuses to believe that you're dead. He's praying that you just got lost in the woods and that they'll find you soon or you'll just come stumbling up to the house."

"Then why don't we just do that? I won't eat for awhile and I can cover myself in dirt and rip my clothes and… I can just say that I went for a walk in the woods to…I don't know… to clear my head, after the… break up, and I got lost. It wouldn't be unusual for me. While I was trying to find my way back out in the dark I fell off a small cliff. No one will ever have to know that you…"

"Bella, you've been gone nearly 3 months now. Even if you had just gotten lost in the woods, you'd have died of starvation by now, if nothing else. It's too late for us to do anything but keep you."

"Or kill me." I mumbled absently. Both vampires sitting across the room from me tensed, their bodies stiffening so dramatically I could see the involuntary movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up from my hands into Edward's eyes and instantly regretted even suggesting my death. Edward's butterscotch eyes smoldered furiously, his angel's face contorted with rage.

"Don't you think like that. I can't do that, I promised to keep you safe, remember?"

"There's still another option you've forgotten." Whispered Alice, the excitement rising in her voice. She lifted her head to look at Edward.

"She can still be…"

"No! I won't! I can't! You know I can't. Not to her." They stared into each other for a deep moment, I knew it would be up to me to break this silence.

"How long before I can get out of bed?"

"You could now if you really wanted to, but you should take it slowly, you messed up your ankle pretty bad. It was very nearly shattered. You should probably start with crutches." I nodded in agreement, it sounded reasonable enough.

"Is there anything else you would like to know?" He asked, trying to keep the three of us from lapsing back into the silence of ourselves.

"Yes." I paused. "Why are you so protective of me if you hate me so much?" Edward leaned his head back up against the wall and closed his eyes again.

"Next." His tone was darker, but his attitude just as snarky. I was starting to get frustrated with him again.

"Why don't you tell me the whole story from the beginning. That way I know all that you know and I won't waste anymore time asking the wrong questions." He looked across the room at me, thoughtfully, those amber eyes of his making my pale cheeks flare bright red. But I didn't try to hide my face. I refused to let myself be intimidated by him anymore. He seemed to, involuntarily, pull himself forward in his chair, but then forced himself to sit back again. He took a moment to close his eyes and regain his composure. Leaning forward in his chair, Edward rested his arms on his knees and folded his hands together.

"Okay. I'll tell you."


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter 14:**

* * *

"But,"

My relief vanished and was replaced with anxiety, unsure of the absurd condition Edward was surely planning to make.

"You should get some breakfast first, you haven't had anything to eat yet." He paused for a moment and sat up straight. I exhaled deeply, relieved.

"Alice. Would you mind getting Bella some food?" Alice's eyes, which had been trained on the glossy wood floor, kick started back to life as she stood.

"But of course." She chirped as she turned to leave.

"No." I called after her. Her spiky black head popped back around the doorframe.

"Bella, Edward's right, you should eat something."

"No, I mean…I know. It's just…Edward said I can walk. I want to come with you."

"Oh." Her eyes popped in surprise. Edward's shoulders bounced under the weight of his heavy chuckling.

"What? You couldn't see that one coming Al?" Alice narrowed her eyes at him. It almost made me laugh how normal they looked in that moment.

"I'll go get some crutches." Alice hissed through her teeth. Once she was out of sight I could just hear her mumble, "You know I really hate it when you call me Al."

"I know." Edward whispered back, just as quietly. Everything was still for a short moment, then Edward looked over at me and his content smile faded into that hard mask of no obvious emotion. Out of all the looks Edward had ever given me, this was the one I had grown to hate the most. Mainly because it left me struggling for what to do next. I could never find the right response, it left me with no choice but to stare back awkwardly with an equally blank expression. After another long moment his eyes grew solemn, welling up to twice their usual size. His inner turmoil seemed to brim up around his bottom lashes. It darkened the color of his eyes, they seemed to turn almost a shade of black, tinted with a blazing gold. It physically hurt to see him like this. Although, I don't think anyone could look more beautiful, I also don't think anyone could look more helpless. It made me want to cry out, to lung forward and wrap him protectively in my arms.

"Bella, I just hope that you can come to forgive me." His voice was weak, tortured. I didn't understand.

"What…" I started to ask, but Alice had returned, carting a pair of shiny new crutches.

"Come on Bella, lets get you something to eat. It'll feel good to finally stretch your legs." Chimed Alice as she lifted me from the silky sheets. I tossed Edward a nervous glance as Alice tucked a crutch under each of my arms and placed a hand on my back, ready to catch me if I fell.

"I'm going to go out for a quick snack." Edward said to Alice. Redirecting his attention back to me he said, "I'll be back soon, I won't go far." I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't know what, he was still wearing his mask. His hands were balled into white knuckled fists on the armrests, digging his nails deep into the wood which looked dangerously close to splintering. When I looked back up into Edward's eyes he was looking at Alice, pain had taken them back over. He was pleading with her, silently.

"Come on Bella, you must be starving." Urged Alice.

We started off down the hallway to the stairs. Our progress was slow. It irritated Alice, twice she asked me if I wanted her to carry me instead. I just told her no, that I needed to do this. We were halfway to the stairs when I just couldn't resist the urge to ask her,

"Is Edward always this tense? Or do I just bring it out in him?" She chuckled lightly.

"No, that's just you, I'm afraid. You see, he's never run in to someone like you before."

"Someone with a pulse?" I asked, sarcastically. Alice giggled.

"No. Someone that's so complex. He's completely out of his element when he's with you, it's really frustrating for him. He likes it, but at the same time he hates it. You continue to confuse and surprise him and he's just not used to that, it's really difficult for him to handle."

We had come to the top of the stairs now and I had a very terrifying realization, crutches plus stairs times accident prone equals disaster. Always.

"Maybe I should…" Alice offered, gesturing towards the stairs.

"Yeah," I agreed. "That would probably be best." Alice swooped me up into her arms and trotted down each step with an agility that tight rope walkers would trade their souls for. When we got to the bottom she sat me down on the last step and swept back up to the top so fast she was a mere blur to my human eyes. She grabbed the crutches in her hands and tucked them into her stomach, leaping into the air. She somersaulted at the peak of her jump and landed square on her feet inches from me. She offered me her hand and helped pull me to my feet, replacing the crutches under my shoulders once I was upright.

"This way to the kitchen." Alice was ecstatic, she began walking ahead of me twirling around with her arms in the air, like the prima ballerina of the Russian Ballet. It was outrageous how graceful she was, how effortlessly she put me to shame. She led me through the large foyer where Edward and Jasper had attacked me that first night, the Cullen's fierce roars and howls still echoed off the beige walls, the memory made me shudder. We passed through the empty doorway that I had broken my ankle on and rounded a corner into the kitchen.

It was the exact opposite of the rest of the house. The counters were shiny slabs of black marble on top of honey colored wooden bases, that were full of cabinets. The floor was a black linoleum. Strangely there were cooking utensils strewn about the kitchen, I guess they needed to stock up for "the human". Esme was at the stove cooking she looked up and gave me a nervous smile.

"I heard you were coming down to get breakfast, I thought I might…"

"Thank you Esme, but I think we can take it from here." Alice said, winking at her mother. Esme gave her a firm smile and awkwardly slipped out of another doorway, identical to the one Alice and I had just come in through, one the other side of the kitchen.

"Let's see…" Alice began wandering over to the sizzling pan on the stove, "What have we here?" She stopped and took a deep sniff of the steaming atmosphere. She made a face, like the smell made her sick.

"Can Esme not cook?" I asked.

"Not for me." Alice giggled, pinching her nose. "But for you, it'll have to do." She winked, picking up a wooden spoon to stir the meat and eggs as they bubbled in the boiling grease. I smiled at her and made my way to the closest counter and leaned my weight onto it. Alice shook her head at me and laughed. She came back around the counter and lifted me, placing me on top of the cool stone.

"You know, if my mother were here she'd push me off and tell me that people eat where my butt has been and that's gross." I said, mimicking my mother's voice when she pretended to be stern. Alice laughed, dropping those silver bells onto the linoleum floor and rolling them into the next room. When the gentle tinkling receded she said,

"Well I'm not your mother, and you're the only one eating anything out of this kitchen, so feel free to sit on whatever you'd like." I smiled, I loved talking to Alice, it was always so easy.

"So what did Edward mean, 'What, you couldn't see that one coming Al'?" I asked, tilting my head down and shaking my falsely flexed arms out in front of me and deepening my voice to imitate Edward's joking tone from earlier.

Alice rolled her eyes, "I really hate being called Al."

I laughed, "I can tell." She smiled. Another thing I loved about Alice was that she was always honest with me. Everyone else here, especially Edward, was always hesitant to tell me anything, but Alice always told me the truth.

"I have a gift." She started. I just stared at her intently. My expression probably betraying every ounce of my genuine curiosity. "You see, I can see the future."


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Edward Can

**Chapter 15:**

* * *

"You…what?" I stuttered, surprised. Alice's laughter peeled through the room in long, tinkling bursts.

"Don't give yourself an aneurism, Bella. Honestly, you should see your face." I reflexively relaxed the wrinkles forming on my forehead, and forced myself to lean back so I wouldn't roll off the kitchen counter.

"Bella, if you don't close your mouth soon you'll start drooling." Alice giggled. I would have said something but she wheeled around the counter with a large wooden spoonful of steaming eggs, which she stuffed into my mouth.

"Wow." I said through my chewing, covering my mouth so I wouldn't dribble. It was hot, but delicious, my stomach grumbled for more. "I never would have guessed that you didn't eat."

"Who knew," she chuckled, sarcastically waving her hand in the air, rolling her wrist lazily. She danced over to a cabinet and pulled out a small white, porcelain bowl, and a fork from a nearby drawer. She must have scooped some of the eggs into the bowl, because there was suddenly a steaming bowl of food rested on my lap and Alice was nowhere to be seen. I whirled my head in all directions, scouring the enormous kitchen for Alice's familiar, tiny figure, but found that I was alone.

From around the corner I heard Alice's voice, she was whispering to someone.

"Come on, it's about time you've met our new…"

"Don't worry, you won't hurt her"

"Everything will be fine. I promise."

Alice suddenly reappeared in the doorway, carting the young blonde boy that could only be Jasper. His face was puckered, and I imagined his nose and mouth pulling themselves shut and becoming non-existent, smoothing over into a flat stretch of bare skin. He didn't say anything to me. He just stared back at me intently with eyes that blazed gold, and nodded his head to greet me.

"Jasper," I half asked, half accused, my voice flat. Glancing at Alice, her smile widened like she just couldn't help herself. But Jasper was, after all, her…how had Edward put it? Betrothed. So of course she couldn't. Across the room Jasper cautiously sucked in a slow, deliberate breath,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella." He croaked, practically through his teeth. I tried to force a smile, but it was hard when he looked like he was in so much pain. I knew I should respond somehow, it was the polite thing to do, but nothing came to mind that was fitting for someone who had attacked me because he couldn't control himself. I remained frozen, unable to decide what would be the next best course of action. Slowly, a hazy calm crawled up from the floor and wrapped itself around my shoulders like a dry wool blanket on a rainy winter's night. I drew in a deep, soothing breath. It cleared my head and I could think past seeing my other attacker who they had had to keep away from me for both of our safety.

"I'm sorry, about before." I blurted softly. Jasper held up a hand that was both a creamy, pale ivory and a ragged, calloused worker's hand.

"No apology is necessary. The fault was all mine." The warm fog thickened and I couldn't help but feel comforted, like someone was holding me while I lay curled in their arms. As pleasant as it was, it was also somewhat unsettling. When I looked back at Alice and Jasper, their eyes were locked together meaningfully. They were arguing. Probably about who was at fault for Jasper attacking me.

"It doesn't really matter anymore, it's not going to change what happened. I just wanted to say sorry." Their eyes broke apart and bore into the side of my face as I refocused my reddening cheeks down towards my lap. My breakfast wasn't steaming anymore, it was probably cool enough to eat by now.

"You should eat, Bella. Seriously, you must be starving"

"Can you read minds too?" I asked. She smothered her face into Jasper's shoulder, muffling her trill laughter.

"Oh. So that's what you were telling her." Jasper mused, intrigued.

"Yup. And you're just in time for all the gory details." She winked, flitting across the room and hopping up on to the counter opposing me. She patted the counter beside her, beckoning Jasper to join her. For a moment he didn't move, then he began to inch his way towards us. His whole body was stiff and awkward, and instead of joining Alice on the counter across from me Jasper leaned himself into the small corner about three feet from us. Alice frowned at him but nodded, seeming to agree with his decision to keep his distance. Half annoyed that she hadn't answered my question and half to break the ice I asked,

"So can you? Read people's minds." Alice giggled again, more lightly this time.

"No, silly. But Edward can."


End file.
